Keys Backgrounder

Keys was born from a need for natural skin care products the likes of which did not exist before we started. Our founder, Wendy Steele, survived Melanoma and her story of her road to recovery was littered with prescription products that almost worked. The trauma showed her the clear vision need for products that really worked to solve skin disorders. Because they are natural, they also made her feel good with a new youthful appearance and the resulting contentment showed her the way in creating Keys In the simplest of messages, Keys is ancient remedies employing modern technologies for people with skin disorders, those that want to be chemical-free, people who want their family to have natural alternatives and for post cancer recovery survivors.

We are:

Natural Beauty & Anti-Aging

Natural Skin Care

Natural Skin Therapies

Natural Hair Care

Natural Dog Care & Supplements

Keys Purpose and Direction

Bob Root & Wendy Steele, Keys Founders

We are not just a natural products company with scents of lavender and claims of what ingredients we do not have in our products. We consider ourselves a natural medicine and therapy products company that happens to use natural ingredients. We use functional ingredients in therapeutic proportions to design and build skin care, beauty, skin therapies and dog care products that do what they say they will do. We never scrimp and we always back every product with a 100% satisfaction guaranty. I believe our Purpose and Direction statement says it all!” Wendy Steele, Keys CEO

Keys Care -is the innovation and thought leader in the natural and chemical-free skin health industry. Combining world class ingredients, herbs and botanicals in therapeutic proportions to solve skin problems and make people feel good. Keys brand of natural skin care, KPRO natural cosmetics and the KODA line of natural dog supplements and topical care products.

Keys designs, develops and manufactures natural healing therapies for people and pets. The quality and quantity of our ingredients are what differentiate us. As we say it, Pharmaceutical grade whole natural ingredients in therapeutic proportions. We use ancient remedies, natural

medicines, whole natural ingredients, aromatherapy and aboriginal homeopathy combined with modern technology to provide safe and effective products for people and pets with skin disorders, sensitive skin, post cancer recovery or those wanting to avoid chemicals in their lives. Our resellers are an extension of our core team and are experts and trusted advisers in their communities. At our baseline, we believe that all of our products must solve problems and make people feel good. We also believe that natural and organic are not features, they are the choice we make assuring purity of purpose.

We are not just about making great products we are also concerned with the exaggerated focus of western medicine on treating symptoms. Bob Root, Keys founder, designed every product we have made based on purpose. At the same time he believes that 50% of all diagnosed skin disorders are caused by chemicals in our everyday lives. He wrote a book titled, “Chemical-Free Skin Health®” to help people understand what is in most products and asking people to stop, challenge and choose healthy products that are safe for people and their families.

How It Began

Wendy Steele and Bob Root are the founders and inventors of Keys Soap. They are both ex-corporate executives: Bob was a CEO of a Silicon Valley High Tech company and Wendy a VP at Coca-Cola. The soap and skin care connection? Skin Cancer! Wendy Steele, Keys Founder, was diagnosed with Melanoma and beat the deadly disease. She could not beat the terrible reactions she had from prescription and expensive skincare products. Told she had eczema, psoriasis, acne, rosacea and dermatitis her condition deteriorated. Doctors kept prescribing more junk, steroids and cortisone’s.

Wendy Steele

Wendy was struck with Skin Cancer multiple times. She has beaten Melanoma and other forms of the devastating skin disease. As an advocate of Skin Cancer prevention, and an Inner Circle Member of the Skin Cancer Foundation, Wendy has tried virtually every form of skin sun protection. From exotic 100 SPF swimwear to SPF 30 clothing, and every form of sun block, she is an expert on taking skin protective measures to avoid sun damage. From her personal experience, the more products she put on her body the more sensitive her skin became. Her use of lotions, sunscreens and exotic clothing cost thousands of dollars annually.

The problem was that no matter what products she used, she did not feel free from itchy irritated skin that was exacerbated by that sticky feeling from lotions and sunscreens. Wendy recalls: “Bob and I talked for years about creating a rejuvenating soap for my ultra sensitive skin. Like many products, Keys Soap was born out of necessity. When we lived in Southern California, I was diagnosed with Melanoma Skin Cancer. After successful surgery to remove the cancer, I was using so much sunscreen that it started to block my pores and irritate my skin. My skin was becoming more fragile even though I used the very best lotions money could buy. I tried a natural liquid soap, but it was not quite right. So, we decided to develop our own organic Castile-like body soap. The initial cleansing results and skin relief I experienced using Island Rx finally set me free from experimenting with the myriad of products that had previously smothered my skin.”

A.J. Nelson, the author of “Give America a Chance,” wrote to us in the comments requesting that we add a paragraph about the fact that we are made in America. He talks about patriotism in his book and we certainly feel patriotic about the USA and the fact that we are made in the USA. A.J. is right that just having a Made in the US icon hidden in plain sight on the product labels is not enough.

Thinking it through, it is much more than just being made here that is important. It is American ingenuity, design, creativity and innovation that we are most proud of in the creation of Keys brand. Bob is a scientist at heart and wakes everyday to his scientific news services where he applies experimental techniques to the production of our products. Just look at many of the articles and you will see innovations and uses of home grown American technologies. For example, the industry standard for homogenization of lotions are high speed blenders with tiny blades that whip air into the lotions to make them smoother. At Keys, we use techniques employing infrasonic sound to do the same thing. Why, because we have no preservatives and air is the enemy of natural products. Solar Rx, our moisturizer with sunscreen, uses a vapor deposition technique developed in Silicon Valley to make magnetic media to create our zinc oxide particles…

There is not one Keys product in the brand that is not touched somehow by American innovation. Our team in the factory lives ingenuity to make our products faster and better without losing quality. It is this form of ingenuity that has permitted us to not raise our prices once in ten years. The list goes on, but the central theme is beyond patriotism, it is also why our products have integrity and continuous improvement. Yes, we are patriots and even more important to us is the innovation we gain from American scientists and engineers.

Lastly, we are so impressed with American ingenuity that we have begun to partner with The Technology Center at the University of Wyoming School of Engineering to create a foundation called Back Country Medicine where we will issue grants and competitions to students and professors for innovative ingredients, designs and processes. Giving back to America and gaining in the process.

What We Believe

There are two facets to skin health and wellness for pets and people. It is a combination of what you use and what you avoid. Skin disorders rank at the top of the list for veterinarian and dermatologist visits. In fact, we believe that over 50% of all skin disorders are misdiagnosed and are actually caused by chemicals in everyday products…many with the claim of natural, organic or botanical. Longevity and Wellness is connected. The life expectancy in the United States for pets and people has been consistently dropping. Why? We believe the body burden from the dirty dozen chemicals in skin care and household products may be causing disorders, outbreaks and even contributing to elevated cancer rates. This is why we use the term Chemical-Free. It means free of man-made chemicals. We are committed to leading the way for other manufacturers to fully disclose product ingredients. Keys created the Therapy Facts panel to help people to make healthier choices for their family and pets.

Ancient Remedies – Modern Technology – Green Science

Today, modern medicine treats symptoms and not the cause. Their products therefore focus on the symptom and not the cause. Aboriginal, eastern, holistic, herbal, naturopathy and ancient medicines treat the whole being and look for the cause. In many cases it is imbalance that causes disease and disorders. We search the world for ancient remedies. We use modern technology, green science and pharmaceutical grade ingredients. We create products that work in harmony to: • Solve skin problems • Soothe skin allergies • Heal minor cuts, abrasions and burns • Act as natural insect repellents

Our affiliations included:

• University of Maryland School of Medicine • Los Alamos National Labs • National Institutes of Health • Ohio State University • Environmental Working Group • Compact signer for The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

The Keys Difference –What We Use:

• Whole Natural ingredients to bring skin health back in balance

• An understanding of the cause and effect of various skin disorders, allergies and problems

• Simple ingredients in use for over 1000 years in other parts of the world

• Safe ingredients for pets and people

Pharmaceutical Grade & Quality for Efficacy-Results

• Pharmaceutical Grade Ingredients is a term that defines the level of quality in the industry. It also defines the efficacy of an ingredient

• Therapeutic Proportions – Keys Therapy Facts panel state the level of the amount of ingredients that we use in our products

Why it Matters:

There is a direct relationship to the quality and grade ingredients in products and the results you get. Many products tout Aloe Vera and Shea Butter as ingredients. Pharma Grade ingredients are rated the best in quality, with the highest level of key actions and values associated with them. When you read a label you should ask: what grade ingredients and in what proportion? For example, our Aloe has a polysaccharide level of 10. Many Aloe’s we tested were not even Aloe. Our Shea Butter tests to a fatty acid level of >2.5. Many processed Shea’s are less than 0.8. There is a difference in even the same named ingredient.

The Keys Difference – What We Avoid:

• Fragrance – they are known skin irritants for pets and people and many contain chemicals found on the Dirty Dozen list that you should avoid!

• Chemicals that are in 85%+ of skin care and household products

• The ‘Dirty Thirty’ list of chemicals

You Get What You Pay For!

• We develop chemical-free healing therapies that have a high degree of efficacy

• We don’t cut corners or use less expensive ingredients or market various scents or fragrances

Ironically, in most cases, they are one-third to half the price of prescription products Attaining healthy youthful skin is a lifetime journey. In this quest, people use soaps, scrubs, gels, toners, moisturizers, lotions, creams, lighteners and the list goes on! They also bathe their pets in shampoos for their own armotharapy instead of the pet’s well being. Most of these products use chemicals that sensitize, irritate and weaken the skin. For example, 95% of all liquid soaps and shampoos contain SLS (sodium lauryl or laureth sulfates) that increase skin permeability, and opens the door for other chemicals and irritants to penetrate deep into the skin. Parabens, petrolatum, propylene glycol, cocamide DEA/lauramide DEA and triethanolamines are common ingredients in all kinds of soaps, shampoos, creams and lotions. When on the skin or absorbed into the body, they can create susceptibility to allergic skin reactions, skin disorders and even worse are being linked to diseases! If you or your pets has irritated or affected skin, odds are good that it is caused by the shampoo, body and face soap you use, anti-bacterial hand products, or residue from your laundry detergent. The skin is our single biggest organ, and skin health is vitally important. Most of the soaps people use on their skin is really degreasing detergent; in fact, most of the liquid products using the term “soap” are not soaps at all. They are chemical detergents containing SLS that strip away oils and actually damage the skin. That is why there is very little difference between most bath gels, dish washing liquid, shampoos and engine degreasers.

The Keys philosophy is to simplify skin care by carefully and naturally cleansing, restoring and protecting the most sensitive skin. We consciously act on that philosophy to improve skin health. We choose not to use chemicals in our products, on purpose! Keys Soap, Island Rx, Show Promise in Helping with Common Skin Disorders Keys Soap first announced the introduction of its new line of all-natural, chemical-free therapeutic liquid bath and hand soaps on March 29, 2005. Keys liquid soaps are holistic, soothing, therapeutic soaps for people with sensitive, allergic or affected skin. They contain only pure ingredients with no man-made chemicals or fragrances. Our soaps do not contain skin irritants like SLS, parabens, propylene glycol or DEA. Since the release of our soap products, we have received considerable feedback from skin disorder sufferers offering qualitative results from their use of Island Rx on diagnosed common skin disorders like acne, eczema, psoriasis and rosacea.

We have a number of testimonials that would indicate the effectiveness of Island Rx. “Although these are offered as testimonials in uncontrolled environments we believe they are early signs of the therapeutic properties of Island Rx,” said Bob Root, Keys Soap inventor. “In this period of time, medical estheticians have told us of results with their patients where prior medical methods did not help their conditions. We now believe that our products, including Island Rx, are tools in the growing movement of alternative chemical-free skin health”, continued Root.

What Keys Customers Value

People and pets with dry skin, eczema, psoriasis, rosacea and acneic conditions value the therapeutic results from using our clean products that contain no irritating or sensitizing chemicals. Our customers enthusiastically tell us in their testimonials how our products make a difference in treating skin disorders, and irritation for themselves, their children and their pets–when nothing else has worked. After using our chemical-free therapeutic products, our customers tell us that the results they see and feel are remarkable and even life-changing! We call this creating chemical-free skin health, on purpose, with our products and customers. Dermatologists use our Island Rx therapeutic soap and recommend it for sensitive skin for people with skin disorders that have not responded to other treatment. We even have customers who enthusiastically recommended our soaps to their dermatologists! In 2009, we were told by movie and TV makeup artists that Keys products taught them that natural is no longer a compromise and that Island Rx Foaming Wash, Luminos, Solar Rx and Eye Butter have become a staple in their makeup routine calling them,

“Clear Cosmetics!” Medical estheticians use and recommend Island Rx for sensitive, irritated and acneic skin conditions to avoid any further irritation or sensitization of the skin. They love how it makes their skin feel and the results they see. Master certified groomers use and recommend MetaClean (formerly Muttineer) for how the therapeutic pet shampoo stops animals’ itchy skin and for how it conditions the animals’ coat and skin. Our customers are people who are interested in keeping their skin young looking and aging beautifully; people who are skin health conscious; and people who take serious sun precautions to avoid skin damage from solar radiation. Our customers also care about the skin health of their pets and want to avoid applying pesticides and chemicals on their pets’ sensitive or allergic skin. Keys sees a link between common skin disorders and the many personal care products containing SLS While developing Keys soaps, Bob Root authored an opinion whitepaper that raises the suspicion that some diagnosed common skin disorders are really a reaction for some people to sodium laureth sulfate and other chemicals found in personal care and skin care products.

Root points out that in a number of cases where people had been diagnosed with skin disorders by physicians, their disorders went away when people stopped using SLS products and started using Keys Soap. Included is the story of a woman diagnosed with psoriasis whose involuntary scratching at night led to bloodied bed sheets and a seven-month old diagnosed with eczema who was covered from head to toe with scales…except where his disposable diapers covered. All went away in a matter of days after discontinuing SLS based laundry detergent and bath gels.

Wendy Steele, the cause of the Keys Soap invention offered, “When Bob first developed Island Rx for me, most of the prescription gels and cleansers that I was told to use contained SLS. An article I read suggested that SLS maybe a culprit and I stopped using everything with SLS in it. I was utterly amazed at how many things in my life contained SLS or one of its family of products. My shampoo, my bath gel, facial cleanser, all my laundry products and even my toothpaste all contained SLS. During this time, I was diagnosed with minor acne, minor eczema, minor psoriasis. I got tired of hearing the word minor—it was pretty major to me. I now believe that it was all SLS related.”

Root added; “I am not sure if SLS itself is the cause of the irritation or the fact that it purportedly increases the permeability of the skin along with absorption by the skin of chemicals by a factor of 10 times that is the cause of the skin mimicking common skin disorders. What I know for sure is that our small sample of Island Rx users have seen a resulting change in a matter of a few days.”

The Technology behind Keys Islandceutical™ personal care products is a form of Quantum Science

Keys Islandceutical products merge holistics with herbal therapy and science to provide clean, chemical-free skin health, aromatherapy and a lift to the spirit. Our products are designed with ingredients to gently clean, restore and protect using advanced technologies that are safe and effective. Working with national labs and universities, we look for state of the art and “skip generation” technologies as a continuing learning and development model.

Essential Oils – We use the highest pharmaceutical grade ingredients that are known for their healing effect on the skin for burns, dry skin and skin afflictions.

Chemical-Free – Our ingredients are truly natural. Clean, chemical-free and 100% vegan, with no artificial color or fragrances, our products are all hand crafted to contribute to therapeutic skin health.

We have sought out aboriginal healers, dermatologists, estheticians and homeopathic practitioners to find out what they use to rejuvenate and protect the skin. Besides moisture, they prescribe natural oils and herbs to deep clean and open the pores to receive healing oxygen. Our experience with physicians educated at Scripps Institute and Johns Hopkins in our 10 year design quest has given us a broad reaching knowledge of skin conditions and the required treatments. These guides helped us to find those ingredients that offer the greatest benefits to the skin. Our processes are as unique as our ingredients. The old adage that oil and water do not mix is no longer true because of the science developed by keys. Manufacturing techniques that include ultrasonics and infrasonics help blend theminimal number of ingredients to smooth and consistent lotions and soaps. The industry average for a skin care product is 38 ingredients/chemicals. At Keys, we average 8 whole ingredients that are simple and safe. This is why Keys natural products continue to rate the safest and most effective based on the Skin Deep report that ranks product safety.

Keys Islandceutical™ introduced new products at the Natural Products Expo East Show – the new line adds a therapeutic lotion, healing serum and therapeutic chemical-free sunblock Keys announces the release of three new products to the only skin care line that is both chemical-free and therapeutic to clean, restore and protect for real skin health. Like the Keys soaps released in April 2005, our products contain only pure natural ingredients, no man-made chemicals or fragrances, and absolutely no Sodium Laureth Sulfate! The complete Keys line enables total skin care including cleaning the skin, restoring damaged or affected skin, and protecting the skin from solar radiation effects. Keys Soap exhibited at the Natural Product Expo East trade show September 16-18, 2005 at the Washington DC Convention Center. An international audience of trend spotters, retailers, industry leaders, and media will gather at the Washington D.C. Convention Center to interact with more than 1,100 exhibitors of natural and organic finished products and ingredients this Sept. 15-18, 2005 at the 20th anniversary of Natural Products Expo East/Organic Products Expo-BioFach America. The tradeshow will pinpoint industry trends and offer unmatched opportunities to sample and learn about the finest natural and organic products from around the world. More than 20,000 industry members attended Natural Products Expo East in 2004.

Keys® Introduces Therapy Facts™ Product Labeling

Therapy FactsTM Panel added to product label fully discloses all ingredients and percentages of active ingredients and our New Keys Logo Affirms Medicinal Differentiation of Products Here is the press release that literally changed how the industry looks aqt ingredients and disclosure. This marked the beginning of a trend and perhaps even a law regarding full-disclosre of ingredients for all skin care products. Annapolis, MD: – March 29, 2007 – Keys Care CEO, Wendy Steele, revealed today at a press conference Keys new logo and Therapy FactsTM product labeling. The new Keys logo is a stylized white cross on a circular red field that resembles an Internet icon. This new logo symbolizes the merging of high tech manufacturing and the medicinal properties. It also clearly differentiates Keys products from chemical based fragranced products.

Solar Rx Therapy Facts Panel

Keys also add a Therapy FactsTM Panel to every label that identifies the ingredients, their purpose and the percentages of active healing ingredients. The panel also indicates Keys use of pharmaceutical grade ingredients in therapeutic proportions versus the industry standard operating procedure of listing ingredients that are in minuscule levels only for the purpose of label content. Wendy Steele, Keys CEO, elaborated, “I developed my first pet care product Muttineer because of a severe life threatening reaction my Bichon had after being shampooed at a groomer. Analyzing the shampoo, we found a sodium laureth sulfate (SLS) levels exceeding 30%; the National Institutes of Health comment that SLS levels greater than 18% can kill a small animal. As we developed more products, our customers asked for more disclosure of ingredients in plain English, the levels and in a way that they could quickly make buying decisions.

As we thought it through, it was obvious that people are used to the Nutrition Facts (USDA) label required on all food products. So, we adopted the format and modified it to make sense for end users of our products, retailers and other manufacturers.”

The Keys Therapy FactsTM panel is on all their new products labels and will eventually be on their entire line of personal and pet care products. The panel identifies key decision points for buyers. Here is a list of the core sections of the panel.

• List of ingredient, their English name, the vitamins contained in the ingredient or their actions • The actual percentages of active ingredients • The Environmental Working Group ranking of the products safety

• A product purpose statement

• Instructions for use

• No Animal Testing affirmation

• Manufacturing country (USA)

• Contact information

Wendy Steele, Keys Founder continued, “This Therapy FactsTM panel just speaks for itself. It is a response to numerous customer inquiries. We encourage other manufacturers to follow suit and fully disclose their ingredients and levels. We are discussing licensing of our Therapy FactsTM panel to other manufacturers and to those that we will be private labeling all natural chemical-free skin care products for them. Our purpose is full disclosure of all ingredients and an assurance from licensees that they will provide an honest description to their customers through this panel on their products. In turn, consumers and dealers will have a clear understanding of a products purpose and actions.”

Keys Soap Technology Background

Keys Soaps solve skin problems, stimulate the senses, and create positive emotions. Islandceutical™ is our term that assures people of these three criteria. Bob Root, a former Silicon Valley CEO, and Wendy Steele, a former Coca-Cola executive, founded Keys Soap. Bob invented the soaps to help Wendy, the love of his life, a melanoma survivor. Her suffering and a desire to maintain her active, outdoor lifestyle drove him to give back her quality of life. Wendy said, “The Keys Soap story isn’t about starting a business, or being an entrepreneur. It is about enjoying life with healthy skin. I am determined to live an active, healthy outdoor lifestyle after experiencing melanoma.”“It was not my technology background that inspired the formulation of my soaps, it was my study as a chef that guided me” said Bob. “Like creating a great culinary masterpiece, the ingredients have to work together, be of the highest quality, and must be skillfully added in the proper order. More importantly, the meal must have a positive intention for the person savoring it. This is the way of Keys!”

Aromatherapy Benefits of Keys Soaps

All Keys Soaps are a form of aromatherapy. We have mapped the essential oils (EO) we use to provide a lift to the spirit and senses. Aromatherapy has proven to affect the mind and the moods of people. This is why we have chosen the spirit lifting citrus blends combined with natural EO herbal extracts as a side purpose for our soaps. Keys hand crafts our products to lift the spirit as well as provide therapeutic benefits to the skin.

KODA Products for Dogs

KODA is the dog therapy product line established by Keys. Products include chemical-free natural supplements and topical therapies for dogs. We use ancient remedies and modern technology to make natural products that makes dogs feel good and solve both internal and skin problems. We use pharmaceutical grade ingredients in therapeutic proportions to solve problems that account for the top 10 reasons for vet visits. KODA is a combination of wellness products and natural solutions.
Koda is Lakota Sioux for “Friend.” The word perfectly describe the intention for our products and their recipients. Today’s dogs are exposed to all sorts of environmental and chemical exposures that are and will shorten their lives. After an experience with our 14 month old pup, Jasper, that forced him to have to take strong antibiotics and Prednisone, we realized that the Veterinarians were ill equip to balance his prescriptions with a wellness program. Determined, we set out to find the finest ingredients the same way that we developed our custom regime for Jasper. You can read the entire KODA story Here

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Testimonials

Works and Smells Good

The therapeutic value of Keys Soap is terrific, it really does make my skin feel smoother and cleaner. But that's not why I buy Windsurfer. I buy it because it smells absolutely wonderful. It's the only scent that I know of that can actually make me smile. A shower with Windsurfer is the best way to start a day.

ThadAtlanta, GA

Word of Mouth

Keys soap, if it can be called that - it does not feel like a soap on the skin, it feels more like a liquid moisturizer that cleans. I would like to take a minute to thank the creator of Keys Soap. I'm a barber and have been for 27 years and every winter I go through red and dried out hands and knuckles, because I wash my hands about 20 plus times a day. Recently, a customer I’ve known for years sat in my chair and I immediately noticed his skin was different and asked what he was using. He said Keys Soap. I said what? He explained about their soaps and said they have a hand soap called Galleyon. I tried it and have fallen in love with a soap! My hands look and feel great, no more red knuckles or itchy, dried out hands. I can't thank Continue Reading

DiannePonte Vedra Beach, FL

Car Guy Hands

Canadian winters are brutal on my skin. 40 below zero and 40 mile per hour winds pull moisture out of my skin more than anything I've ever experienced. After using Island RX for only one week the softness and moisture in my skin was fully restored. The dryness and painful cracking that had become common for me every winter is now just a memory. Thank you so much Bob for your commitment to helping people live better, healthier, happier lives

September 12, 2019 at 8:35am
Melanoma is more common in men than women and among individuals of fair complexion. Unusual moles, exposure to natural sunlight or artificial sunlight (such as from tanning beds) over long periods, and health history can affect the risk of melanoma.

Most skincare contains parabens. These are biocides that keep bacteria from forming. Parabens also kill the skin's microbiome. Results are skin disorders that can mimic eczema, psoriasis, etc. Avoid them for clear skin. Get Natural. Bob https://t.co/vQU0rHl1kU